‘Mangy’ is textbook bedroom pop. And you know what? We’ll take it. Wonderfully hazy and luscious, the EP is exactly what we are looking for. Grainy textures, nostalgic guitar tones and an overall lo-fi livery – what more could you ask for?
Hailing from Venice, Italy, Go Hawaii is a familiar face on Mesmerized, having featured their single ‘Days Wasted’ in December. This is what we wrote at the time: “Blinking an eye to shoegaze and new wave, the single is truly eclectic in its sonic livery, yet incredibly specific in its identity.” We stand by our words: ‘Mangy’ follows the same blueprint, yet expands the overall character in a less melancholic direction.
‘Santa Barbara’, for instance, feels more positive, sunnier, almost Californian (it does what it says on the tin!). ‘Auburn’ bets on fast-paced darkwave tones, partly similar to ‘Tangled To The Sun’. ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ is a welcome surprise, offering a fashionable tribute to The Smiths in Go Hawaii’s musical sauce.
Speaking about the inspiration behind ‘Mangy’, the Italian duo explains: “The writing took much longer than we expected because life happened—there were changes in our personal and private lives that took us away from focusing on music the way we wanted to. It was a period where we weren’t feeling great mentally, and we needed time to figure things out in different areas of our lives. You can feel that in the songs, I think. But despite all that, we managed to make real progress in our sound and the way we write.”
Recommended! Discover ‘Mangy’ EP on Spotify:
